Description
Review of the Ktaxon 39 Inch Full Size Solid Body Electric Guitar Kit
The Ktaxon KTSTEGuitar407 is a 39 inch full size solid body electric guitar with a paulownia body, a maple neck, two humbucking pickups and a tremolo bridge, finished in matte black. It ships with a gig bag, a strap, a cable, a tremolo arm and a capo. It is aimed at a beginner or an intermediate player who wants a complete humbucker equipped guitar rather than a single coil design.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Two humbucking pickups with a three way switch. Humbuckers use two coils wired to cancel hum, which makes them quieter under fluorescent lighting and gives a thicker, higher output sound than single coils. This is the layout most associated with rock and heavier styles.
- One volume and one tone control. A simple control set is easier to learn on than a three knob layout, and there is less to accidentally leave rolled off.
- Paulownia body. Very light for its size, which makes standing practice less tiring than a heavier hardwood body.
- C shaped neck profile. The most common profile on modern electrics, chosen because it fits the widest range of hand sizes without forcing an unusual thumb position.
- Tremolo bridge with the arm included, so pitch bending effects are available without a further purchase.
- Fret position markers in copper nickel, which are easier for a beginner to read at a glance than plain dots on a dark board.
Cons
- The description states the guitar has a maple neck and fingerboard, while the specification table lists the fretboard as “Techwood”. Those are different materials and the difference is visible and audible, so it is worth confirming before ordering.
- No amplifier is included. This is a guitar kit, not an amplifier kit, and an electric guitar without an amplifier makes almost no sound. An amplifier and its power supply are a necessary further purchase.
- The listed weight of 13.52 pounds is the packed kit rather than the guitar. Paulownia is a light timber and the instrument itself will weigh considerably less, but the actual figure is not published.
- The colour is given as “Matte Back”, which appears to be a typographical error for matte black. Minor, but it is a sign of how carefully the listing was assembled.
- A tremolo bridge on a budget guitar is the most common cause of tuning instability, because the bridge pivots and the strings have to return to exactly the same position afterwards.
Detailed Product Description
The body is paulownia, a fast growing timber that is unusually light for its volume. On a solid body electric the wood contributes far less to the sound than the pickups do, so the practical effect of paulownia is mostly about weight: a light guitar is easier to stand and play with for an hour, which is the difference that a beginner will actually notice.
The neck is maple, which is dense, stable and stiff, and is the standard neck timber on this style of guitar. The fretboard is where the data disagrees with itself, so that is a question for the seller. The scale length is 25.5 inches, the long scale used on this body style, which gives slightly higher string tension and wider fret spacing than the shorter scale found on other designs.
The electronics are two humbuckers with a three way selector, one volume and one tone. The three way switch gives the bridge pickup alone, both together, or the neck pickup alone. In practice the bridge position is brighter and more aggressive, the neck position is warmer and rounder, and the middle position sits between them. That is the whole tonal range of the instrument, and for a beginner it is enough to cover most of what they will want to play.
The bridge is a tremolo unit with a removable arm. Pushing the arm lowers the pitch of all six strings at once. The trade off is tuning stability, since the bridge has to pivot and return exactly, and cheap bridges and nuts rarely manage that reliably. Many players at this level simply leave the arm out.
What Comes with the Product
- The 39 inch full size electric guitar in matte black
- A gig bag
- A shoulder strap
- A guitar cable
- A tremolo arm
- A guitar capo
No amplifier, tuner, spare strings, picks, stand or instructional material is listed. The listing states that no assembly is required and the guitar is ready to use out of the box, but with no amplifier included it will not be audible at any useful volume until one is added.
Who It Suits
This suits a beginner or intermediate player who already owns an amplifier, or who intends to choose one separately, and who wants humbuckers rather than single coils. It also suits someone whose interest is in rock, metal or blues, since that is what a twin humbucker layout is built for.
It suits less well an absolute beginner buying a first electric with nothing else at home, who would be better served by a package that includes an amplifier. It also suits less well a player who wants the glassier single coil sound associated with funk and clean pop. Worth comparing are the Ktaxon 39 inch matte black starter set, the Ktaxon 39 inch solid body kit and the Glarry 39 inch beginner kit. The wider selection sits in the electric guitars section, and anyone still choosing between instrument types should read the guide to acoustic versus electric guitar for beginners.
How to Maintain
Wipe the strings after each session. Nickel steel strings corrode from skin oils and a cloth kept in the gig bag is the cheapest maintenance there is.
Keep the guitar in the gig bag rather than leaning it against a wall, and keep the cable coiled loosely rather than wrapped tightly around anything. Cables fail at the plug, and tight wrapping is what causes it.
If the tremolo causes tuning problems, the usual culprits are the nut slots binding and the string windings at the tuning posts. Stretching new strings properly before playing solves a surprising amount of it.
Tips and Recommendations
Choose the amplifier before assuming a large one is needed. For home practice the wattage figure matters far less than most buyers expect, and a small amplifier with a headphone socket is usually the more useful purchase. The reasoning is set out in the guide to guitar amp wattage for home practice.
Add a clip on tuner early. A guitar with a tremolo bridge drifts more than one with a fixed bridge, so tuning will need checking more often rather than less.
If the guitar arrives with high action, have it set up rather than fighting it. Strings that are hard to press down are the main reason beginners stop practising, and the fix is usually straightforward. The details are in the guide to guitar action and setup.
Product FAQ
Is an amplifier included?
No. The kit lists a gig bag, strap, cable, tremolo arm and capo, but no amplifier.
What pickups does it have?
Two humbuckers in an H-H layout, with a three way selector, one volume control and one tone control.
What is the fretboard made of?
The description says maple and the specification table says “Techwood”. These are different materials, so the point needs confirming with the seller.
How heavy is the guitar?
The listing gives 13.52 pounds, but that figure covers the packed kit rather than the instrument on its own.
